Give animals property rights: uni lecturer

A radical proposal to introduce property rights for animals has been slammed by farming associations across the country.

Australian research lecturer Dr John Hadley from the University of Western Sydney (UWS) said that, under his proposal, particular animals would be given legal property rights, and human guardians would be appointed to represent them in court.

But farmer associations are concerned about potential conflict.

President of the South Australian Farmers Federation Peter White said the proposal was ludicrous.

"It never ceases to amaze me how stupid some people can be," he told AAP this week.

"Why would somebody give animals more rights than humans?

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"I think it would create World War III between environmentalists and between welfare groups and farmers."

But Dr Hadley told AAP that giving animals legal ownership of their habitat might be the key to protecting biodiversity.

"This could be something that produces something useful," he said.

"By discussing with the guardian, people could be persuaded to try another land management decision, [or] they may delay destroying the habitat until the end of the breeding season."

He said people who wanted to modify habitat on their property would have to negotiate with guardians through an independent tribunal before taking any action.

President of the Victorian Farmers Federation Andrew Broad said appointing animals a legal guardian would be a waste of money.

He said that, despite believing Dr Hadley had good intentions, he did not think the proposal would achieve anything.

"This sounds like a confrontational approach," he said.

"How do we ensure that we're looking after our environment and producing our food sustainably?"

Mr Broad said the misconception that people who owned land could not be trusted needed to be broken down.

He said biodiversity could be further protected by community education and further investment in science.

Mr White said farmers would not be able to do their jobs if such a proposal was introduced.

"There's no way on earth they [farmers] will ever put up with that," he said.

"Just to give them land rights is not fixing the problem."

But Dr Hadley, attached to the school of humanities and language at UWS, said he hoped his proposal would stimulate discussion about biodiversity issues and, eventually, become internationally recognised.

"I'm hoping to bolster the protection afforded to habitat in our existing system," he said.

"Australia is recognised as having one of the world's worst rates of biodiversity loss, and habitat destruction has been identified as a leading cause of biodiversity loss."